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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask you all how much you get paid?

664 replies

UnderWorkedOverPaid · 20/02/2011 11:36

Name-Change if you want to - I have. AIBU to be curious what other people earn?

I am a nurse. Qualified 6 years. Work 30 hours a week.

I earn about 25k (with unsocial hours etc added in)

OP posts:
LDNmummy · 27/02/2011 14:03

I am a student right now so only have a student loan :(

Used to work full time from secretarial which paid ok to retail while studying which paid a pittance for really hard work in comparison.

Am taking a year out for LO after graduating this summer so nothing then. DP will be main provider and earns £27k as NQT and works from early morning till midnight most days (actually grates me how much some parents do not realise teachers have to do). It will ease up as years go on and he will prob only work 12 hours a day and his pay will increase with experience.

I expect to start a career earning a least £15k PT when I return to work and as baby gets older hours and pay will increase. Can't wait till then Grin

breathing · 27/02/2011 14:04

Thats my point money. (as an aside...v naughty building up contact lists from current employ)

LDNmummy · 27/02/2011 14:05

Oh and this thread is great, was wondering all this time how other people manage and it gives me a rough idea as a soon to be first time mum.

breathing · 27/02/2011 14:08

I guess its not just financial support either. My husband is dead set against me leaping into my new business. Biscuit

BrandyAlexander · 27/02/2011 15:26

breathing, it must be very frustrating if it doesnt feel like dh being supportive, guess he's worried about financial security of the family?

xenia, i think your examples give rise to an interesting conundrum. martha lane-fox has earned far more than anyone in the fields you mention will ever earn. However, given 95% of new businesses fail in the first 5 years, of the remaining 5%, only a tiny percentage go on to be as successful and realise as much money as martha lane-fox. Therefore logically, one would be better off doing one of the less risky jobs that you mention.

Having said that, the chances of someone earning millions at the top of the field in medicine, IT, law etc is no better than the chances of making as much money as martha lane-fox. I think this thread is testament to that. On this basis, shouldn't everyone (given the opportunity) realistically assess their skillset, drive, ambition etc and choose a career path that is best suited to the individual?

Xenia · 27/02/2011 15:35

True and plenty of consultants, accountants and the like have also invested in businesses and combined the two routes to success.

its like acting. We all know that most people whose child says they want to act will end up waiting tables so that they would be better getting their degree and joining student drama in addition and then if teh drama doesn't work they have the other things to fall back on.

Most will choose the career path which suits their needs I suppose although vast legions of children simply do what their parents or peers do without masses of thought.

hmc · 27/02/2011 16:35

Crikey - you lot have been discussing money for a week. Go out and spend some!

mrsgetonwithit · 27/02/2011 16:58

Ormirian - I am in SW to. No one makes good money here really but its too gorgeous no one wants to leave. I would rather stay on a low wage for life if I have to and get to live in a place most people in the city dream of (thats why they all buy second homes here!)

ME TOO!!

I would never leave deepest darkest Devon.

Caddie08 · 27/02/2011 17:26

£91,500 as a solicitor....

BoffinMum · 27/02/2011 17:36

It's a fact of life that if you have family money propping you up, and other family members who have navigated successful and/or profitable career paths, you have a good chance of doing well in life, whereas if none of these apply to you, your chances are vastly reduced regardless of the effort you put in personally. This has just been exacerbated thanks to the virtual abolition of student grants. So could we stop pretending otherwise?

Ormirian · 27/02/2011 17:37

DH and I earn a little bit more than we need. We have a nice house, food, clothes and a car. DCs don't do without anything they need, and have quite a lot of what they want too! And it is a good place to live.

So I'm happy. I know I could earn more if I worked in Bristol, or London but that way I'd not be able to do school drop off or pick DS2 up once a week. But most importantly I have very little ambition to do more than I do now.

I would be hugely proud of DD if she became dynamic, focussed and high-earning, immensely proud, but that will have to come from herself not me. I don't have the gene for it sadly

maltesers · 27/02/2011 17:48

Nothing. . . really. . .I am a SAHM , single parent, partner working away during the week...but whats his is his and what my income is from maintenance, and child benefit is mine. . . but now he is on a reasonable salary he pays when we go out.

TanteAC · 27/02/2011 18:21

I earn about £29k before tax, FT classroom teacher in London, no additional responsibilities (yet!)

I absolutely LOVE my job, and changed from university lecturing to do this.

DH works in management and earns something over £60k with benefits (car, fuel, private healthcare, blah blah)

I work from about 7.30/8 to 6pm every day at full tilt and then enjoy my evenings, weekends and holidays.

DH works all sorts of hours, very long, but has jumped salary at the rate of £10k a year since starting in the company. He likes, but doesn't love, his job.

In the future (when I apply for more responsibilty, etc) I will hopefully earn more, but the job satisfaction(not to mention job security) are a great 'bonus' in themselves Grin

If I'm honest, though, if DH did not earn more (and stand to continue to do so) I would probably be keen to earn more myself with a sense of urgency. We probably earn the least out of all our friends and family at the same age/level, so although we are happy as larry, it shows how what a 'good' salary is becomes relative sometimes Blush.

In conversation, if asked I would say that we have 'decent' income, as opposed to 'good'. Only because I know so many people who earn so much more than us. Don't know how I feel having just typed that, tbh. Don't really care what other people earn, it's not why I believe most people choose their careers.

Interesting thread, esp regarding what you would encourage your dc to do. I would say that loving your job is a bonus in itself, and relieves a lot of stress potential. But back it up with qualifications and be aware of all the options and opportunities open to you, and never be ashamed of earning money (ethically!) - as is often said, there is no shame in being poor, but it's no great honour, either! Wink

cazfinch · 27/02/2011 19:14

£46K including a £6K car allowance, full time, but with good school holidays as my job is school advisor. In theory we are loaded, but I am the main breadwinner as hubby looks after DS2 3 days a week and earns a pittance for 3 days (including one day at the weekends). Salary not so important as size of mortgage (extortionate London prices, even in our shabby suburb).

Xenia · 27/02/2011 20:32

As Tante says it can be relative. Studies show if you live where most people and your friends earn a lot more you feel fed up. If you reverse that peopel on the whole (not everyone but a good few) feel beter.

PaulaYatesbiggestfan · 27/02/2011 20:55

My daughter is currently choosing her A-level options and this thread has really helped...

She was erring towards law/accountancy but after reading on the Cambridge University website that their engineering graduates earn the most - it's in the bag Wink

Xenia · 27/02/2011 20:59

mmmmm, not so sure. I think huge numbers of engineers spend their lives wishing they'd picked a well paid career. You might start out on a slightly higher graduate salary but ten years on I would be surprised if they earned more than those who went into some of the professions, not that money matters that much and my daughter's friend I think did engineering at Oxford or Cambridge - the more girls we get doing it the better.

Rannaldini · 27/02/2011 21:06

engineering massively underpaid and dead end in the long run

she should try to do something she is interested in to an extent
law and accountancy are fairly specific mindset types of careers

PaulaYatesbiggestfan · 27/02/2011 21:46

Xenia agree we do need women Engineers and that is a great starting point for her future prospects

BikeRunSki · 27/02/2011 22:06

I am a female engineer, and have never had any regrets about my career choice. I find it fascinating and useful. I am never going to be uber rich, but I am unlikely to be very poor either. I will always be interested.

Intruiged about why Rannaldini thinks engineering is dead end?

vicbar · 27/02/2011 22:10

work as a cashier in a bank 21 hours a week, take home £920pm.
Im paid well for what I do (10+ years experience) but have been higher grades before going part time.

BoffinMum · 27/02/2011 22:10

I am not sure female engineering graduates from Cambridge working in engineering make a lot of money. 25% of graduates from that course work in normal management jobs and it is probably those who coin it.

frgr · 27/02/2011 22:19

BikeRunSki, do you mean you're an engineer who happens to be female?

Sorry but placing genders (albeit only with women) in front of job titles is something that royally fecks me off.

"Female electrician"
"Female surgeon"
"Female programmer"
"Female soldier"
"Male Nurse"

Random and offtopic, but worth a mention, because my dad's profession does the same thing, and I don't think it's helpful to perpetuate this silly habit.

givemesomespace · 27/02/2011 22:31

It's not the engineering graduates that work in engineering that earn the big wages. It's the enginnering graduates that work in banking/law/accountancy that earn in the top bracket.

Only the small MINORITY of the top banking/accountancy firms' graduate intake will have finance/accountancy degrees. Engineering/science grads from the top universities are the favoured pick.

And the engineers that aren't obsessed with money usually love their careers in engineering.

PaulaYatesbiggestfan · 27/02/2011 22:35

give me agree. Drive and contentment are the key